The ability to run Xcode? Maybe run Linux in a VM (no, emulation does not count). Maybe run nvim with python/node/rust/go/gcc toolchains on the iPad? How about Wireshark? I really liked using Nixdroid on my Pixel, why can't I have something similar on iOS/iPadOS?

Android can run Android Studio. Why can't an iPad run Xcode?

Yeah those are things most people want on an iPad with 6GB RAM…

The pros come with 12 and 16 GB of memory. That is plenty.

I would not want to run XCode let alone Android Studio with an Android emulator with 12GB RAM or a VM. Even the lowest end MacBook Air comes with 16GB RAM.

It depends entirely on your target - you don’t need an emulator if you are already running an android device.

Xcode on my macbook doesn’t need 12GB. It is of course a different story if you need to also run clang-analyzer or rust-analyzer in addition to xcode/studio, but still, 16GB would be enough to get by for a sizeable chunk of devs.

(I replied to the wrong comment originally)

I haven’t done mobile development for ages, but isn’t it always slower to have to update the app on the phone all of the time?

Not always. And there are things that just do not work on emulators.

My first computer had 48 KB, 6 GB are a lot when not juggling Electron processes.

I haven’t done mobile development for ages, but isn’t it always slower to have to update the app on the phone all of the time?

Why should mobile development the only reason for a rich OS experience?

I replied to the wrong comment - my bad

Really? Are we going to compare development in what 1980 to today? I got my start programming on an Apple //e in 1986 in assembly and it had 128KB of RAM.

6GB is not plenty when you are expected to run an IDE and in the case of Android an emulator that is also emulating a phone with 4GB+ RAM.

iOS development has never used an “emulator”, when you ran in the simulator even on x86 computers, it compiled your code to x86 and ran against an x86 version of the iOS framework.

Modern software is absurdly bloated, no matter how you look at it. I started programming on an Apple II, but the first computer I ran anything approaching an "IDE" on was an Amiga 500 with 3 megs of RAM. (Lattice C!)

The only reason you can't run a full blown OS on an iPad is Apple doesn't want you to. It would eat into low-end Mac sales.

Did you run an IDE and a separate emulator/simulator for a completely different computer? The video memory of a modern computer is much more than 3MB of RAM.

Why wouldn’t Apple rather you spend more on an iPad Pro + keyboard than a MacBook Air?

Different times, but software is exponentially more bloated now. Hardware giveth, software taketh away.

You have a good point. My guess is they'd rather you'd buy both. You can get an older M1 or M2 MacBook Air for cheaper than an iPad Pro + keyboard.

Really, because iPadOS fails short of being a proper Dynabook.

Who needs an emulator when running on device?!?

Now you are going to list exactly how. Just a reminder before you start playing the old guy card - I’m 51 and started coding in 1986.

You would need an emulator if you wanted to run Android Studio or use the much flowery process of updating the phone every time you made a change.

Than I wonder why you think using Android Studio on an iPad is the only reason to have a proper OS experience with the same capabilities as macOS.

As for Dynabook like experience, given our age, you can certainly find the difference on your own.

This is where this part of the thread started

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45594747

> The ability to run Xcode? Maybe run Linux in a VM (no, emulation does not count). Maybe run nvim with python/node/rust/go/gcc toolchains on the iPad? How about Wireshark? I really liked using Nixdroid on my Pixel, why can't I have something similar on iOS/iPadOS? Android can run Android Studio. Why can't an iPad run Xcode?

How much of that could you do on your Dynabook? How was web browsing? The office suites? Video and audio editing? The office suites? Even the games?

Maybe one day iPadOS users will get what using a full blown OS on a tablet actually means.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/devices/surface-pro

Think different.

The very first review I found

https://www.pcworld.com/article/2795490/microsoft-surface-pr...

This compact tablet runs on a Snapdragon X Plus chip and is built for casual browsing and office work. It’s not high-end

The screen has a semi-high brightness IPS panel, 2196×1464 pixel resolution, and a 60 or 90 Hz frame rate. You’ll have to set it up manually; dynamic frequency is not supported. It’s not full pro quality on the screen,

With a 12-inch screen and 3:2 aspect ratio

The processor doesn’t even stack up well against the cheap base model iPad.

That is not thinking different.

So it’s slower, a worse display, a worse aspect ratio for a tablet, and Microsoft’s x86 emulator is notoriously slow and there are many fewer ARM native apps?